Science, technology and innovation have taken centre stage in efforts to boost economic growth and improve social well-being. OECD countries and non-members alike are introducing far-reaching reforms to strengthen investments in science, technology and innovation, and to enhance their contribution to national economies in a context of increasing globalisation.

What types of reforms have they introduced and what are the main issues they aim to address?

What policies can best stimulate the creation, diffusion, and exploitation of knowledge in all sectors of an increasingly competitive, global economy?

The OECD Science, Technology and Industry (STI) Outlook 2006 aims to answer such questions by offering a comprehensive review of key trends in science, technology and innovation policy, and reviewing recent policy developments in OECD countries. In addition to examining main trends across the OECD, the report delves into specific topics that are high on the agenda of innovation policy makers, including the role of intellectual property rights and technology licensing markets in innovation performance, policies to enhance benefits of the globalisation of business R&D, human resources for science and technology, and the evaluation of innovation policy. While retaining its focus on developments in OECD countries, this edition of this biennial publication highlights key developments in a number of important non-member economies, including China, Russia and South Africa.

Access to the underlying Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and graphs is available from both the printed and electronic editions via the StatLinks provided on each page.

Publication of the OECD STI Outlook alternates every year with the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard, which provides a comprehensive picture of countries' performance in science, technology and innovation, bringing together over 200 graphs.